Generative AI

Meta is in advanced talks to invest over $10 billion in AI data labeling startup Scale AI. This deal, if finalized, would be a historic private financing, reflecting the importance of data in the AI landscape. Scale AI, which provides data labeling services crucial for training machine learning models, has experienced rapid growth. Meta’s investment signals a shift toward external AI partnerships and supports its strategic focus on AI, including its Llama language model and AI-powered integrations across its platforms.

AI-generated deepfakes are enabling sophisticated scams by impersonating public figures and contacts, with global fraud losses exceeding $12 billion in 2023. Using facial recognition, biometric extraction, and neural networks, modern tools create real-time fake videos with over 90% accuracy, narrowing detection opportunities. Experts note subtle flaws—unnatural blinking, lighting mismatches, or blurring—as red flags. Stanford’s Dr. Elena Voss advises challenging unexpected video requests with sudden movements to expose rendering limitations. Corporations are deploying AI to analyze micro-expressions and blood-flow patterns, while individuals are urged to verify requests via secondary channels and adopt biometric authentication. The fight against AI-driven deception hinges on “intelligent skepticism” and advanced detection technologies.

The ISG Provider Lens™ report (September 2025) analyzes how AI, including GenAI and agentic technologies, transforms finance and accounting outsourcing (FAO) by shifting vendors from back-office roles to strategic partners. Across 48 providers in four domains—invoice-to-pay, order-to-cash, R2R/tax, and FP&A—AI automates workflows, reduces manual tasks by 60%, enables real-time insights, and supports predictive financial planning. The study evaluates innovation, global adoption, and vendor capabilities, emphasizing AI co-pilots, blockchain integrations, and tools turning spreadsheets into dashboards, to help enterprises benchmark partners reshaping CFO priorities and operational agility.